FOLK-AMERICANA MUSIC-ON-TV & IN AWARDS: SPECIAL EDITION (plus MARDI GRAS!) Feb 28, 2017

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Greetings and salutations! Herein, we look at:
✔ the next big spacey thing in marketing your music on social media
✔ how out-of-this-world possibilities just got YUGE
✔ getting ready for the Santa Clarita Cowboy Festival
✔ Folk-Americana Music on TV, from weekly shows to the Grammys
✔ what's surviving and what's getting cancelled on TV
✔ propaganda at the Oscars
✔ the ever-proverbial "more"

(And a note for all you gearheads: we have a mucho grande post-NAMM all-gear edition in the works and coming soon!)
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CONTENTS / IN THIS EDITION...

1) It's Mardi Gras, February 28th

2) Is "Snap Planet" Your Next Music Marketing / Social Media Tool?

3) Seven Earth-Like Planets around One Star, out of Transporter Range

4) Tix Selling-Out: Santa Clarita COWBOY FESTIVAL Is a Top Event, April 20-23

5) Folk-Americana Music: Alive & Well on L.A. TV

6) Folk-Americana GRAMMYS & Performances, on-Demand thru May 12th

7) Who Won the GRAMMYS

8) TV: What Arts Shows Will Return, and the Full List of Cancelled Shows

9) At the Oscars: When Propaganda Succeeds

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Let's get started!


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# 1 news feature...


IT'S MARDI GRAS, FEBRUARY 28th


It's a day when everyone wants live music. It's Fat Tuesday, better known by its French name, MARDI GRAS. Being that it's tied to Easter, it moves around the calendar. And this year, it happens on February 28th.

On the bad side, that means you must march forth on March 1st, because Ash Wednesday, the day after Mardi Gras, is a workday Wednesday. Whether you're ready to climb out of your sackcloth or not.

Okay. Caveats and warnings issued. Here are the musical possibilities around town for Mardi Gras!
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✔ EDDIE BAYTOS & THE NERVIS BROS play Cajun-Zydeco from 6–9 pm at the L.A. Farmer's Market on the West Patio stage, 6333 W 3rd St, Los Angeles 90036. FREE (except for parking).

✔ "MARDI GRAS CELEBRATION AT ST. BERNADETTE," 6-10 pm (doors open at 4) brings food, dancing and live entertainment by Bennie & the Swamp Gators with David Sousa, at St. Bernadette Catholic Church, 3825 Don Felipe Dr, Los Angeles 90008. Admission $45, includes dinner. Info, call David at 909-527-0926 or email davidsousa@verizon.net

✔ THEO & ZYDECO PATROL start at 5:30 pm at Tio Leo’s Mexican Restaurant, 5302 Napa St, San Diego 92110; 619-542-1462.
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Yes, most of Southern California's Mardi Gras festivities happened over the weekend. Except that we're in the only place in the world where Mardi Gras doesn't end on Fat Tuesday. To wit...

Here is the excellent lineup for the Simi Valley Cajun & Blues Music Festival coming up on Memorial Day Weekend:

SATURDAY MAY 27th – 2017
(Schedule subject to change)
BLUES STAGE
CAJUN – ZYDECO STAGE
National Anthem
Kelly’s Lot
Lazy Lester
The Yardbirds
Robby Krieger
Dwayne Dopsie
National Anthem
Dwayne Dopsie
Big Chief Monk Boudreaux and the Golden Eagles
Cajun trio Doucet, Doucet & Reed
Mardi Gras Parade
jo-El Sonnier
Doug Kershaw

Sunday MAY 28th
(Schedule subject to change)
BLUES STAGE
CAJUN – ZYDECO STAGE
National Anthem
Alex Nester
The 44’s
Mitch Ryder
Big Bad Voodoo Daddy
Big Chief Monk Boudreaux and the Golden Eagles
National Anthem
Bayou Bros
Crawdaddio
Dwayne Dopsie
Mardi Gras Parade
Cajun trio Doucet, Doucet & Reed
Jo-El Sonnier

FESTIVAL INFO...
http://www.simicajun.org

Info on the bands...
The Robby Krieger Band Celebrating 50 Years of The Doors Music (http://robbykrieger.com/)
The Yardbirds (http://www.theyardbirds.com/)
Big Bad Voodoo Daddy (http://www.bbvd.com/)
Mitch Ryder (http://www.mitchryder.net/)
Big Chief Monk Boudreaux & the Golden Eagles (http://www.bigchiefmonk.com/)
The 44s (http://www.the44sbluesband.com/)
Lazy Lester_ (http://www.lazylester.net/)
Dwayne Dopsie and the Zydeco Hellraisers (http://www.dwaynedopsie.com/)
Kelly’s Lot (http://www.kellyslot.com/)
Alex Nester (http://www.alexnester.com/)
Jo-El Sonnier (http://www.jo-elsonnier.com/)
Doug Kershaw Cajun Trio: Michael Doucet, David Doucet & Mitch Reed plus a special Guest
Crawdaddio (http://www.harmonyartists.com/artist/crawdaddio)
The Bayou Brothers (http://www.simicajun.org/www.bayoubrothers.net)

PLUS...
The annual "GATOR BY THE BAY" festival happens this spring in San Diego
AND,
the annual "LONG BEACH BAYOU FESTIVAL" follows in June


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# 2 news feature...


IS "SNAP PLANET" YOUR NEXT MUSIC MARKETING / SOCIAL MEDIA TOOL?


(February 28, 2017; 5:31 pm Central European Time) – Developers of an app called "SnapPlanet" just won this year's top prize at the European Space Agency (ESA) Space App Camp, held in Barcelona, Spain. The app combines the increasing availability of satellite images with social networking. It took home the top prize of €5000 and will be considered for the "SAP Start-up Focus programme." (SAP is the Center for Digital Leadership, abbreviated from another language.) As part of its ongoing collaboration with ESA, SAP works with the start-ups from ESA’s Business Incubation Centres across Europe.

As funding for NASA has all but evaporated, US astronauts must hitch rides aboard Russian spacecraft to reach the US-built International Space Station. Moreover, leadership in space and space-related endeavors has passed to private industry and to the ESA, with China a strong up-and-comer.

ESA’s "Copernicus Programme" continues to launch its Sentinel satellites, including the Sentinel-2B, set for liftoff next week. For European entrepreneurs, their governments' funding of space endeavors brings revolutionary possibilities. Transforming the data from the growing Sentinel network into information that can be marketed to benefit citizens poses both a challenge and an opportunity. The App Camp is a key occasion for developers to bring the data from these and other satellites to the everyday user -- via mobile apps.

WHY "SNAP PLANET" MATTERS

The SnapPlanet app allows users to choose a location around the world at a given time, ‘snap’ it using images from Earth-observing satellites and share it with their followers.

Want an exciting way to promote your next concert? How about a social media medium that lets fans zoom-in to the venue from high up in space, ending with your poster on the door or name on the marquee, before zooming through the roof to you smiling and waving skyward from the stage? It's not much of a reach to make that continuous drop from orbit into a front-row seat, from which your music video is watched.

“We know that our satellite data are key for a wide range of applications, but it surprises us every year how the participants come up with new ideas and new ways of integrating our data into these application areas,” said Josef Aschbacher, Director of ESA’s Earth Observation Programmes.

Other apps developed during this year's App Camp include:

* "Droughtscan miramAPP," which uses Sentinel-2 data to "assist water managers who experience problems with dry peat levees during periods of severe drought." (Or perhaps to help California reservoir managers see how fast rainfall in a watershed will overflow their spillways, before it happens.)

* "Saturnalia app," which allows users to scan a bottle of wine and display the best year for that particular wine based on satellite and meteorological data providing soil, atmosphere and weather information. The app also recommends wines cultivated in similar conditions.

* "SOUL," an app that aims to merge data from satellites and vehicle-based instruments to provide air-quality data in near-real time.

Ultimately, it's up to us whether we demand that the relentless integration of technology into every aspect of life and society serves the needs of humanity. Or if it simply continues to monitor, surveil, spy-on, and sell the products of its intrusions to corporations that will relentlessly market to us. Or disqualify us from holding jobs because corporate masters' algorithms find us guilty of "thoughtcrimes" from some post or other that we made. Or if techno-intrusions otherwise spread uncontrollably like a disease in a Petri dish.

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Check out the story of this year's just-completed ESA App camp at:

http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Observing_the_Earth/Copernicus/SnapPlanet_app_wins_top_prize_at_Space_App_Camp


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# 3 news feature...


SEVEN EARTH-LIKE PLANETS AROUND ONE STAR, OUT OF TRANSPORTER RANGE


Just when we needed a heartening story, NASA and the ESA gave us one. It's been a long time since the two Voyager spacecraft each carried a gold record (really made of gold) out of our Solar System, with music and greetings in many languages, including songs of the Humpback Whale. But the best joke about it still works: "We have contact with aliens? Wow!" "What did they say?" "Send more Chuck Berry!"

That may happen someday. But before then, you might just get that stellar opportunity to radio your music to an alien civilization -- and live long enough to get their review.

That statement isn't crazy, because the momentous news arrived Feb 22, 2017, that SEVEN Earth-sized, and possibly Earthlike, planets have been found. Moreover, ALL seven are in the same system, orbiting the same star -- not so far away. Their star is a dim "ultracool" red dwarf called TRAPPIST-1, and it's in the constellation Aquarius, only 39 light years (235 trillion miles) away. All seven planets -- dubbed Trappist -1 b through h -- range in mass from 75% to 110% that of Earth. At least the innermost six seem to be "rocky" worlds. All seven may orbit the star in its "goldilocks zone," where water can exist in a liquid state on the surface of a planet that has a reasonably dense atmosphere.

Now, the concept of the "right distance" from a star that a planet must orbit to enable life to develop is not a constant. It is determined by the brightness, or more specifically, the radiation output, of the star. One factor is the size of the star. If our Sun were a basketball, the Trappist-1 star is a golf ball. So, to harbor life, its planets must be a lot closer to it than we are to our sun -- and they are.

In our Solar System, the outside boundaries of the "goldilocks zone" are defined by Venus and Mars -- because Venus doesn't necessarily need to be hot enough to melt lead, and wouldn't be, without its runaway greenhouse atmosphere (as in, global warming is real). And Mars would still have liquid water if it still had more atmosphere, even though it's farther from the sun than we are.

A dim star also means the big determiner of a magnetic field is much less a factor. Earth has a strong magnetic field, Mars doesn't, which is part of why its water and most of its atmosphere are gone.

In the Trappist-1 system, the star is only slightly larger than Jupiter, and 2,000 times dimmer than our sun. That relationship of orbital mechanics means that all seven planets orbit closer to their star than Mercury is to our sun. That results in some very short years for all of them: the six innermost worlds have orbits that range from 1.5 to 12.4 DAYS, and the seventh, outermost, planet probably takes 20 days to go around (more observations are needed). It also means any or all of the seven may support life as we know it, because the star, even that close, is so dim.

The outermost planet, Trappist h, may be frozen, but not to greater extremes than Antarctica. The innermost three planets -- Trappist b, c, and d -- are too hot for liquid water not to boil away on most of their surfaces. And these three may have constant volcanic activity caused by the star's hot proximity, along with its gravitational tug-of-war, perhaps by the neighboring planets influences, since all orbit close together (think Jupiter's moon, Io).

But three of the planets -- Trappist e, f, and g -- may provide homes for liquid water oceans, if a lot of things are just right. The major complication comes with the expectation that all seven worlds are "tidally locked," always keeping the same side to the star. Everyone understands that part, because it's the same as the Moon does to the Earth. Thus, atmospheric circulation is critical to mitigate the temperature of each planet's cold, dark side with its permanently illuminated side.

As for the view of the sky from one of these worlds? Probably about as bright as our sky, just after sunset, with dramatic overhead passings of the neighboring planets, the nearest at twice the apparent size of our Moon. As Tabetha Wallace noted on on RT's "Watching the Hawks," which had the best TV coverage of the story the day the announcement was made, "You'd be able to stand on one planet and see the clouds on a nearby one as it went by." Plus, any of these planets may have its own moon or moons. And depending on the planet's atmospheric gases and that red sun, the sky is probably salmon-colored, rather than blue. Imagine the songwriting possibilities of THAT.
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The new results were published last Wednesday in the journal "Nature," and announced at a news briefing at NASA Headquarters in Washington.

"This is the most exciting result I have seen in the 14 years of Spitzer [space telescope] operations," said Sean Carey, manager of NASA's Spitzer Science Center at Caltech/IPAC in Pasadena, California. "Spitzer will follow up in the fall to further refine our understanding of these planets so that the James Webb Space Telescope can follow up. More observations of the system are sure to reveal more secrets."

Already following-up on the Spitzer discovery was everybody's favorite stargazer, NASA's Hubble Space Telescope. Hubble initiated the screening of four of the planets, including the three that seem definitely inside the habitable zone. These observations are aimed at assessing the presence of puffy, hydrogen-dominated atmospheres around these planets, because that is typical for gaseous worlds like, say, Neptune. In May 2016, the Hubble team observed the two innermost planets, and found no evidence for such "puffy" atmospheres. That data strengthened the case that the planets closest to the star are rocky in nature.

"The TRAPPIST-1 system provides one of the best opportunities in the next decade to study the atmospheres around Earth-size planets," said Nikole Lewis, co-leader of the Hubble study and astronomer at the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore. NASA's planet-hunting Kepler space telescope also is studying the TRAPPIST-1 system, making measurements of the star's minuscule changes in brightness due to transiting planets. Operating as the K2 mission, the spacecraft's observations will allow astronomers to refine the properties of the known planets, as well as search for additional planets in the system.

These "K2 observations" of the TRAPPIST-1 planets conclude in early March and will be made available on the public archive, at: https://archive.stsci.edu/k2/

Spitzer, Hubble, and Kepler -- the currently operating triad of space telescopes -- will help astronomers plan for follow-up studies using NASA's upcoming James Webb Space Telescope, set for launch in 2018. With much greater sensitivity, Webb will be able to detect the chemical fingerprints of water, methane, oxygen, ozone, and other components of a planet's atmosphere. Webb also will analyze planets' temperatures and surface pressures -- key factors in assessing their habitability.
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There's more information on the TRAPPIST-1 system at: https://exoplanets.nasa.gov/trappist1

To learn more about the hunt for, and discoveries of, exoplanets, go to: http://www.nasa.gov/exoplanets
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More, in short and simple form, at:
http://www.space.com/35790-seven-earth-size-planets-trappist-1-discovery.html


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# 4 news feature...


TIX SELLING-OUT: SANTA CLARITA COWBOY FESTIVAL IS A TOP EVENT, APRIL 20-23


Saddle up! Tickets for all the "add-on" events at the 24th Annual Santa Clarita Cowboy Festival always sell-out in advance. If you didn't spot The Guide's prior encouragement to get busy 'n look over all the events offered, let the cowboy coffee simmer and git 'er done. In addition to all the performances that are included with weekend admission (either or both days) at the main Festival site, the biggest names in Western music and Western Swing can only be enjoyed at the concerts (all in fine venues) away from the Saturday & Sunday daytime site. A new event was a late addition at the Hart Mansion on Saturday, April 22, and we were right on top of that one, a few weeks back. Now it's your turn. Read on to find the perfect event to compliment your Cowboy Festival experience -- or take advantage of Southern California's best annual opportunity to catch several top US and Canadian Western acts.
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Basic Schedule of Events

Wednesday, April 19
The Festival kicks off with a special festival edition of the "OUTWEST CONCERT SERIES," at the Repertory East Playhouse, featuring MARY KAYE and JOE HERRINGTON. Treat your ears to a performance of captivating Western music and poetry. In addition to top musician MARY KAYE, Joe the cowboy poet and storyteller has played 'purt near everywhere, including Tokyo Disneyland.

Thursday, April 20
Film aficionados won’t want to miss "THE SANTA CLARITA VALLEY FILM RANCH TOUR" on Thursday, April 20. Newhall residents and Hollywood film historians E.J. and KIM STEPHENS conduct a memorable coach tour of MANY famous western film sites in and around the Santa Clarita Valley. Many of these sites are familiar to viewers around the world, but are rarely seen up-close by the public.

Friday, April 21
Relax to the baritone voice of award-winning songsmith JON CHANDLER, as he takes the stage at the Rancho Camulos Museum near Piru, one of America’s finest examples of Early California living. This visit also includes a southwestern lunch in the marvelously preserved old rancho's idyllic setting and an opportunity to step back in time with a docent-led tour of the museum grounds.

Friday afternoon, it’s your chance to experience celluloid history on the "PARAMOUNT RANCH / M*A*S*H TOUR." That’s right. Guests will be taken to the Fox Ranch where the remains of the 4077th MASH unit can still be found. The tour will also visit Paramount Ranch, where hundreds of movies have been filmed.

Friday night, it's DAVE STAMEY, Western Music Association "Entertainer of the Year" and winner of just about every award that a western musician can win (some, multiple times). Dave performs in the intimate setting of silent film actor William S. Hart’s historically preserved 1920s living room in the preserved 1920s environs of the Hart Mansion.

Saturday, April 22
Newly added: "WYATT EARP IS BACK." Hear two insightful authors, GARNER PALENSKE and NICHOLAS CATALDO, discuss the true life stories of Wyatt Earp in the living room of silent film star William S. Hart's mansion.
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The main activities of the festival are Saturday and Sunday. But all these extra events ALWAYS sell-out, well in advance.

All times, details, and online ticket purchase info are at: www.cowboyfestival.org


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# 5 news feature...


FOLK-AMERICANA MUSIC: ALIVE & WELL ON L.A. TV


(This is part one of four in this edition covering the presence of music on TV, and what else is obscurely present or fleetingly on TV. The other parts follow consecutively.)
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For about five years, The Guide featured frequent write-ups of acoustic, Folk-Americana, roots and classical music performances on TV, and we often included old musicals with their classic production numbers that became American Songbook standards. We even went to some lengths to demonstrate how old silent films were masterful pairings with music soundtracks that had to support the on-screen action or help convey the right emotion.

L.A. radio does not feature much Folk-Americana radio programming. We do not, in any way, want to imply that what little Folk-Americana music that IS aired on local radio is in any way deficient. There are dedicated people programming and hosting the few shows we have here, and they stand-up to everything that's world-class from anywhere that airs a lot more great on-air music. But, there's no denying, or even arguing -- compared to the rest of the nation, there is far less variety OF ANY KIND on L.A.'s radio airwaves. Truly, less variety than just about anywhere else in any state or any region. Sadly, it's the corporatocracy at work: anything that isn't deemed "mainstream" by Big Entertainment struggles to find even a miniscule niche in the face of hegemony in the city that is home to Hollywood and the global entertainment empire.

As for the Guide's longtime defiance of that? We'll continue to do write-ups for many specific events, live, broadcast, webcast, and on radio and TV. But our days of offering comprehensive listings of all that's tuneful on TV? That is, alas, past.

Still, we must take a few moments to remind everyone that weekly offerings of Folk-Americana music on some of the more obscure L.A. channels are the backbone of "our" music's presence here.

KLCS has a commitment to music performance programming on Friday evenings. The shows vary through the season, and at present they are:

KLCS, Fridays, 8-11 pm:
✔ "Sun Studio Sessions"
✔ "Bluegrass Underground"
✔ "Austin City Limits"
✔ "Front and Center"

"PBS+" offers good Saturday and Sunday Folk-Americana music programming, but it roams around their schedules as a block, anywhere from mid-afternoon into late evening. This Saturday, it's an afternoon block:

PBS+, Saturdays, either 3-6 pm (this Saturday) or 6-9 pm (more often):
✔ "Music City Roots: Live at the Factory"
✔ "Backstage Pass"
✔ "Jammin' at Hippie Jack's"
✔ "Sun Studio Sessions"

PBS+, late night, from 3 am to 6 am, there's:
✔ "Front and Center"
✔ "New Tanglewood - Tales from Backstage"
✔ "Songs at the Center"
✔ "Infinity Hall Live"

The Sunday schedule on "PBS+" brings music performances that may or may not be repeats of what aired Saturday day, evening, or late night.

PBS+, Sunday, from 6-9 pm, there's:
✔ "Music City Roots: Live at the Factory"
✔ "Backstage Pass"
✔ "Jammin' at Hippie Jack's"
✔ "Sun Studio Sessions"

Late night Sunday (early am Monday), KCET Link contributes offerings that are good "set-your-recorder" picks. Just remember to use the "schedules" feature on your spyware-saturated smart phone, so you'll have the info when you get home to the video equipment. Here's the scoop:

KCET LINK, Sunday late/Monday early, from 1-4 am, it's:
✔ "Infinity Hall Live," 1-2 am
✔ an episode of the "Speakeasy" performance-interview music show, 2-3 am
✔ "Music City Roots: Live from the Factory," 3-4 am

Episodes of the "Music Voyager" series pop up on all of the above public TV channels throughout the week. A few of those half-hour shows are outstanding presentations of regional Americana. But check listings carefully, because most are in various "world music" genres that are exotically weird to Folk-Americana sensibilities.

If you're stuck home, music-on-TV may not be as bleak as "legacy" media's offerings of angst-ridden competitions. We hope the above offers a map to some toe-tappin' and foot-stompin' tuneful treasures.


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# 6 news feature...


FOLK-AMERICANA GRAMMYS & PERFORMANCES, ON-DEMAND THRU MAY 12th


(This is part two of four in this edition covering the presence of music on TV, and what else is obscurely present or fleetingly on TV. This feature, updated from early February, covers the online on-demand Americana portion of the recent GRAMMY Awards that were not aired on TV, but are still available online. All four parts are here as consecutive news features.)
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As usual, the 59th annual GRAMMY Awards were broadcast on Sunday, Feb. 12, this year on CBS. That is, the portion of the awards that are always broadcast on TV aired globally at that time. And, as usual, the awards that folkies care most about? Uh, those didn't make it to TV.

But hang on.

Until very recent years, it was only news sources like the Guide that attempted to remedy things for Folk-Americana artists being honored, and for their fans, who always had one heckuva time finding out their favorite artists had been honored. For a lot of years, we could have ended this right here by quoting a great newsman who always said, "And that's the way it is."

But the Recording Academy -- the GRAMMY Organization -- has wised-up. This year, they simulcast the daytime portion of the GRAMMYs live on the internet.

And the opportunity to enjoy the fete remains open, online, on-demand, for 90 days after it happened. Finally, some respect for music's supposedly "non-mainstream" artists.

The awards — usually no more than one in each of the various Folk-Americana genres — are never included in what airs with all the nighttime hoopla. But they were included — not exactly "featured," but "included" — in the three hours of that daytime webcast.

Seems the singular award for "Folk Album of the Year" — and this year's doubling of "Blues Album of the Year" honors into one for "Best Traditional" and one for "Best Contemporary" Blues Albums — would've cut into the time needed at night for bloviating by the recipients of the rather ridiculous multiplicity of rap awards. Rap, as a single category, gets four awards, and the almost guaranteed dissing of somebody who wins by an entourage figure of somebody who doesn't.

Perhaps we are being hasty or unfair. SOME things HAVE opened-up, as the webcast and on-demand-for-a-month recording prove. Some, namely the blues awards, have even expanded, even as a key Americana award was absorbed into an amalgamated category. More on that in a moment.

Here's the complete spectrum of Folk-Americana categories for GRAMMY awards that are included in the on-demand webcast of the live daytime portion of this year's GRAMMYs:

FIELD 13: AMERICAN ROOTS MUSIC
45. American Roots Performance (S/T)
46. American Roots Song (S/T)
47. Americana Album
48. Bluegrass Album
49. Traditional Blues Album
50. Contemporary Blues Album
51. Folk Album
52. Regional Roots Music Album

(A) = Category allows Album entries
(S) = Category allows Single entries
(T) = Category allows Track entries

We did not tell you who won, because that would be a spoiler for those who don't know.

We mentioned an amalgamation. We're still sad that the "Regional Roots Music Album" GRAMMY replaced the short-lived "Cajun-Zydeco Album" category. That crazy change tossed Louisiana's distinctive accordion-and-fiddle-based Americana music into a competition with everything from: Native American flute and dance-drum circles; to Old Time Fiddle and Banjo; to traditional and contemporary Cowboy/Western and Western Swing; to Djangostyle guitar; to the music of the Hudson Valley; and the Rocky Mountains; and the open plains; to the Appalachian mountain hollars; to the Waila and other ranchera-influenced accordion and fiddle of the desert Southwest. Obviously, each of those genres — and more, both traditional and contemporary — needed — and still needs — its own category and its own award(s).

Of course, the big, nighttime GRAMMY telecast featured tributes to GEORGE MICHAEL and PRINCE. But it was mighty lean on tributes to any of the Folk-Americana stars we lost since the previous year's awards show.

Big Music always claims that what's commercially successful must get all the attention. Indie artists and folk artists have the same answer to that: "If you don't hear it, you can't like it."

So, of course, the evening broadcast featured performances by CHANCE THE RAPPER, LITTLE BIG TOWN, STURGILL SIMPSON, four-time GRAMMY® winner and current nominee BRUNO MARS, JOHN LEGEND, METALLICA, CARRIE UNDERWOOD, and KEITH URBAN.

But what you want is the on-demand show, available through May 12. It's called the "GRAMMY AWARDS PREMIERE CEREMONY®" and was hosted by MARGARET CHO.

It's still available, for another couple weeks, at www.grammy.com

Now, hold onto your hats. Performers included this year's nominees JUDY COLLINS, RAVI COLTRANE, ZIGGY MARLEY, CARLA MORRISON, NORTHERN CREE, O'CONNOR BAND with MARK O'CONNOR, and THIRD COAST PERCUSSION. Of course, all of them were collectively billed as the opening act, the "Prelude to Music's Biggest Night®," to "Kick Off the 59th Annual GRAMMY Awards®."

Fine. As long as we can catch the music festival-like lineup of "opening acts" via the web's time machine. Then we can still slip out the back door and go get a pizza, just like on Awards Day, which other people thought was Awards Nights. We just adjusted our sombrero and proclaimed, "Red carpet? We don't need no stinking red carpet!"

The on-demand webcast of the daytime show presented all the GRAMMY Awards in approximately 70 categories that included the Folk-Americana genres. Presenters were SARAH JAROSZ, LAUREN DAIGLE, FOR KING & COUNTRY, JIMMY JAM, RENÉ MARIE, MÝA, and BRENDON URIE from Panic! At The Disco.

For those who like details...

SARAH JAROSZ came in with two nominations this year, for "Best American Roots Performance" for "House Of Mercy" and "Best Folk Album" for "Undercurrent."

JUDY COLLINS, O'CONNOR BAND with MARK O'CONNOR, NORTHERN CREE, THIRD COAST PERCUSSION, RAVI COLTRANE, MARGARET CHO, LAUREN DAIGLE, FOR KING & COUNTRY, RENÉ MARIE, ZIGGY MARLEY, CARLA MORRISON, MÝA, and BRENDON URIE each arrived with one GRAMMY nomination this year.

JUDY COLLINS with ARI HEST entered in contention for "Best Folk Album" for their "Silver Skies Blue"; the O'CONNOR BAND with MARK O'CONNOR for "Best Bluegrass Album" for "Coming Home"; and NORTHERN CREE for "Best Regional Roots Music Album" for "It's A Cree Thing."

Performers on the on-demand webcast who were nominees in the non-Americana related categories included Third Coast Percussion for "Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance" for "Steve Reich"; Margaret Cho, nominated for "Best Comedy Album" for her "American Myth"; Coltrane for "Best Improvised Jazz Solo" for "In Movement"; Daigle for "Best Contemporary Christian Music Performance/Song" for "Trust in You"; For King & Country for "Best Contemporary Christian Music Performance/Song" for "Priceless"; Marie for "Best Jazz Vocal Album" for "Sound of Red"; Marley for "Best Reggae Album" for his "Ziggy Marley"; Morrison for "Best Latin Rock, Urban Or Alternative Album" for "Amor Supremo"; Mya for "Best R&B Album" for "Smoove Jones"; and Brendon Urie with Panic! At the Disco for "Best Rock Album" for "Death of a Bachelor."
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The Folk-Americana GRAMMYS and performances will remain on GRAMMY.com as video-on-demand for 90 days following the event. That's through May 12.

www.grammy.com

Do you hear Rodney Dangerfield? He's saying, "Finally! Some respect!"


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# 7 news feature...


WHO WON THE GRAMMYS


(This is part three in this edition covering the presence of music on TV, and what else is obscurely present or fleetingly on TV. All three parts are here as consecutive news features.)
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The 59th Annual Grammy Awards ceremony was held on February 12, 2017. The CBS network broadcast the show live from the Staples Center in Los Angeles. The ceremony recognized the best recordings, compositions, and artists of the eligibility year, which runs from October 1, 2015 to September 30, 2016. The nominations were announced on December 6, 2016.

It seems obvious which Grammy Awards to list for everyone with Folk-Americana sensibilities. But it's a trap to assume that.

For example, there's this year's result in category 7, "Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album." The winner is "Summertime: Willie Nelson Sings Gershwin," the great Willie Nelson's latest.

For the traditionalists, the categories you want to check are:
51. Best Folk Album (all nominees in this category are included, below)
45. Best American Roots Performance (all nominees in this category are included, below)
46. Best American Roots Song
47. Best Americana Album
48. Best Bluegrass Album
49. Best Traditional Blues Album
50. Best Contemporary Blues Album

Of course it's easy to breeze past the rest. Considering that rap gets four Grammy Awards, categories 22-25, while the diverse variety of American folk music from Cajun to Zydeco to Native American flute gets jammed into a single apples-and-oranges competition for category 52, "Best Regional Roots Music Album."

(Yes, Cajun/Zydeco briefly had its own Grammy, before being thrown into the blender.)

A lot is interesting here. For instance, along with an entire separate structure for the Latin Grammy Awards, there are TWO separate award categories for specific REGIONAL genres of MEXICAN music:
43. Best Regional Mexican Music Album (Including Tejano)
44. Best Tropical Latin Album

Yet there's only the singular crazy amalgam of "Regional Roots Music Music" for all forms of Folk-Americana to share with all-comers, from Native American to Old Time Mountain Music to Southwestern Waila to every other imaginable "niche" music. One wonders why the two regional Mexican categories cannot be given to Folk-Americana, with the two genres from Mexico included among the competitors for category # 54, "Best World Music Album."

After the Nashville establishment disowned Austin and all forms of western music, it became less likely anyone would see Country music as part of Folk-Americana. But even the most rigid lines can be crossed. So we can never ignore these categories:
26. Best Country Solo Performance
27. Best Country Duo/Group Performance
28. Best Country Song
29. Best Country Album

Folk-Americana has even more issues of what to include in the genre, even if the Grammys take their own path. Most musicologists would accept, as Folk-Americana:
40. Best Roots Gospel Album
36. Best Gospel Performance/Song
38. Best Gospel Album
Though, clearly, these categories, being pop, but paired with the above in the awards, do not qualify as Americana:
37. Best Contemporary Christian Music Performance/Song
39. Best Contemporary Christian Music Album

There's the unanswerable question whether jazz qualifies as Folk-Americana, or is wholly its own thing. Either way, the Grammys have plenty of categories for jazz, everything from:
31. Best Improvised Jazz Solo
32. Best Jazz Vocal Album
33. Best Jazz Instrumental Album
34. Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album
to category
35. Best Latin Jazz Album.

There are plenty of categories that could go to Folk-Americana artists or bands, if they intentionally sought the nominations. Some should be slam-dunks, others are a bit of a stretch. But when you consider that the only Western music band to win a Grammy in years -- Riders in the Sky -- won for Best Children's Album for the soundtrack to "Toy Story 2," it should give credence to our point. Here are those categories:

55. Best Children's Album
56. Best Spoken Word Album (Includes Poetry, Audio Books & Storytelling)
57. Best Comedy Album
58. Best Musical Theater Album:
59. Best Compilation Soundtrack For Visual Media
60. Best Score Soundtrack For Visual Media
61. Best Song Written For Visual Media
62. Best Instrumental Composition
63. Best Arrangement, Instrumental or A Cappella
64. Best Arrangement, Instruments and Vocals
65. Best Recording Package
66. Best Boxed Or Special Limited Edition Package
67. Best Album Notes
68. Best Historical Album
69. Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical
70. Producer Of The Year, Non-Classical
71. Best Remixed Recording
72. Best Surround Sound Album
77. Best Choral Performance
83. Best Music Video
84. Best Music Film (all nominees in this category are included, below)

Finally, regardless of how tightly you want to set the boundary markers, how can we overlook our own L.A. Opera's win? It's category 76, "Best Opera Recording," for "Corigliano: The Ghosts Of Versailles," James Conlon, conductor; Joshua Guerrero, Christopher Maltman, Lucas Meachem, Patricia Racette, Lucy Schaufer & Guanqun Yu; Blanton Alspaugh, producer (LA Opera Orchestra; LA Opera Chorus). Label: Pentatone Music.

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Here are all the results, in all categories. We are including all the nominees in categories 51, 52, and 84, so you can see the other folkies who were in contention for those Grammy Awards.

1. Record Of The Year: "Hello," Adele.
Greg Kurstin, producer; Julian Burg, Tom Elmhirst, Emile Haynie, Greg Kurstin, Liam Nolan, Alex Pasco & Joe Visciano, engineers/mixers; Tom Coyne & Randy Merrill, mastering engineers
Track from: 25 / Label: XL Recordings/Columbia Records

2. Album Of The Year: "25," Adele.
Danger Mouse, Samuel Dixon, Paul Epworth, Greg Kurstin, Max Martin, Ariel Rechtshaid, Shellback, The Smeezingtons & Ryan Tedder, producers; Julian Burg, Austen Jux Chandler, Cameron Craig, Samuel Dixon, Tom Elmhirst, Declan Gaffney, Serban Ghenea, John Hanes, Emile Haynie, Jan Holzner, Michael Ilbert, Chris Kasych, Greg Kurstin, Charles Moniz, Liam Nolan, Alex Pasco, Mike Piersante, Ariel Rechtshaid, Rich Rich, Dave Schiffman, Joe Visciano & Matt Wiggins, engineers/mixers; Tom Coyne & Randy Merrill, mastering engineers
Label: XL Recordings/Columbia Records

3. Song Of The Year: "Hello," Adele Adkins & Greg Kurstin, songwriters (Adele).
Track from: 25 / Label: XL Recordings/Columbia Records; Publisher(s): Universal - Songs of Polygram Int'l, Inc./EMI April Music Inc./Kurstin Music

4. Best New Artist: Chance The Rapper.

5. Best Pop Solo Performance: "Hello," Adele.
Track from: 25 /
Label: XL Recordings/Columbia Records

6. Best Pop Duo/Group Performance: "Stressed Out," Twenty One Pilots.
Track from: Blurryface /
Label: Fueled By Ramen

7. Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album: "Summertime: Willie Nelson Sings Gershwin," Willie Nelson.
Label: Legacy Recordings

8. Best Pop Vocal Album: "25," Adele.
Label: XL Recordings/Columbia Records

9. Best Dance Recording: "Don't Let Me Down," The Chainsmokers Featuring Daya.
The Chainsmokers, producers; Jordan "DJ Swivel" Young, mixer
Track from: Collage /
Label: Disruptor Records/Columbia

10. Best Dance/Electronic Album: "Skin," Flume.
Label: Mom+Pop Music/Future Classic.

11. Best Contemporary Instrumental Album: "Culcha Vulcha," Snarky Puppy.
Label: Ground Up Music

12. Best Rock Performance: "Blackstar," David Bowie.
Track from: Blackstar /
Label: ISO/Columbia Records

13. Best Metal Performance: "Dystopia," Megadeth.
Track from: Dystopia /
Label: UME

14. Best Rock Song: "Blackstar," David Bowie, songwriter (David Bowie).
Track from: Blackstar /
Label: ISO/Columbia Records; Publisher(s): Nipple Music admin. by RZO Music, Inc.

15. Best Rock Album: "Tell Me I'm Pretty," Cage The Elephant.
Label: RCA Records

16. Best Alternative Music Album: "Blackstar," David Bowie.
Label: Columbia Records

17. Best R&B Performance: "Cranes In The Sky," Solange.
Track from: A Seat At The Table /
Label: Saint Records/Columbia Records

18. Best Traditional R&B Performance: "Angel," Lalah Hathaway.
Track from: Lalah Hathaway Live /
Label: Hathaway Entertainment/Entertainment One

19. Best R&B Song: "Lake By The Ocean," Hod David & Musze, songwriters (Maxwell).
Track from: blackSUMMERS'night /
Label: Columbia Records; Publisher(s): SonyATV Tunes LLC o/b/o Muszewell/EMI April Music Inc. o/b/o itself and Ben Ami Music

20. Best Urban Contemporary Album: "Lemonade," Beyoncé.
Label: Parkwood Entertainment/Columbia Records

21. Best R&B Album: "Lalah Hathaway Live," Lalah Hathaway.
Label: Hathaway Entertainment/Entertainment One

22. Best Rap Performance: "No Problem," Chance The Rapper Featuring Lil Wayne & 2 Chainz.
Label: Chance The Rapper

23. Best Rap/Sung Performance: "Hotline Bling," Drake.
Track from: Views / Label: Cash Money Records/Republic Records

24. Best Rap Song: "Hotline Bling," Aubrey Graham & Paul Jefferies, songwriters (Drake).
Track from: Views /
Label: Cash Money Records/Republic Records; Publisher(s): Sandra Gale/EMI Music Publishing/Nyan King Music Inc./EMI April/Sony ATV

25. Best Rap Album: "Coloring Book," Chance The Rapper.
Label: Chance The Rapper

26. Best Country Solo Performance: "My Church," Maren Morris.
Track from: Hero /
Label: Columbia Nashville

27. Best Country Duo/Group Performance: "Jolene," Pentatonix Featuring Dolly Parton.
Label: RCA Records

28. Best Country Song: "Humble And Kind," Lori McKenna, songwriter (Tim McGraw).
Track from: Damn Country Music /
Label: Big Machine Records; Publisher(s): Songs of Universal, Inc./Hoodie Songs

29. Best Country Album: "A Sailor's Guide To Earth," Sturgill Simpson.
Label: Atlantic

30. Best New Age Album: "White Sun II," White Sun.
Label: Be Why

31. Best Improvised Jazz Solo: "I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry," John Scofield, soloist.
Track from: Country For Old Men /
Label: Impulse!

32. Best Jazz Vocal Album: "Take Me To The Alley," Gregory Porter.
Label: Blue Note

33. Best Jazz Instrumental Album: "Country For Old Men," John Scofield.
Label: Impulse!

34. Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album: "Presidential Suite: Eight Variations On Freedom," Ted Nash Big Band.
Label: Motema Music

35. Best Latin Jazz Album: "Tribute To Irakere: Live In Marciac," Chucho Valdés.
Label: Jazz Village

36. Best Gospel Performance/Song: "God Provides," Tamela Mann; Kirk Franklin, songwriter.
Track from: One Way /
Label: TillyMann Music; Publisher(s): Second Half Music Publishing

37. Best Contemporary Christian Music Performance/Song: "Thy Will," Hillary Scott & The Scott Family; Bernie Herms, Hillary Scott & Emily Weisband, songwriters.
Track from: Love Remains /
Label: EMI Records Nashville; Publisher(s): W.B.M. Music Corp./EKT Publishing, admin. by W.B.M. Music Corp./WB Music Corp./Thankful For This Music, admin. by WB Music Corp./Songs of Universal, Inc./G650 Music

38. Best Gospel Album: "Losing My Religion," Kirk Franklin.
Label: Fo Yo Soul Recordings/RCA Records

39. Best Contemporary Christian Music Album: "Love Remains," Hillary Scott & The Scott Family.
Label: EMI Records Nashville

40. Best Roots Gospel Album: "Hymns," Joey+Rory.
Label: Gaither Music Group/Farmhouse Recordings

41. Best Latin Pop Album: "Un Besito Mas," Jesse & Joy.
Label: Warner Music Mexico

42. Best Latin Rock, Urban or Alternative Album: "iLevitable," iLe.
Label: Sony Music Latin

43. Best Regional Mexican Music Album (Including Tejano): "Un Azteca En El Azteca, Vol. 1 (En Vivo)," Vicente Fernández.
Label: Sony Music Entertainment México

44. Best Tropical Latin Album: "Donde Están?" Jose Lugo & Guasábara Combo.
Label: En Grande Music, LLC

45. Best American Roots Performance: "House Of Mercy," Sarah Jarosz.
Track from: Undercurrent /
Label: Sugar Hill Records

46. Best American Roots Song: "Kid Sister," Vince Gill, songwriter (The Time Jumpers).
Track from: Kid Sister / Label: Rounder Records; Publisher(s): Vinny Mae Music admin. by Songs of Kobalt Music Publishing

47. Best Americana Album: "This Is Where I Live," William Bell.
Label: Stax

48. Best Bluegrass Album: "Coming Home," O'Connor Band With Mark O'Connor.
Label: Rounder Records

49. Best Traditional Blues Album: "Porcupine Meat," Bobby Rush.
Label: Rounder Records

50. Best Contemporary Blues Album: "The Last Days Of Oakland," Fantastic Negrito.
Label: Believe Global/Blackball Universe
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51. Best Folk Album: "Undercurrent," Sarah Jarosz.
Label: Sugar Hill Records

Other nominees:

"Silver Skies Blue," Judy Collins & Ari Hest; Label: Wildflower Records/Cleopatra Records.

"Upland Stories," Robbie Fulks; Label: Bloodshot Records.

"Factory Girl," Rhiannon Giddens; Label: Nonesuch Records Inc.

"Weighted Mind," Sierra Hull; Label: Rounder Records.

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52. Best Regional Roots Music Album: "E Walea," Kalani Pe'a.
Label: Kalani Pe’a Music Llc

Other nominees:

"Broken Promised Land," Barry Jean Ancelet & Sam Broussard; Label: Swallow Records.

"It's A Cree Thing," Northern Cree; Label: Canyon Records.

"Gulfstream," Roddie Romero And The Hub City All-Stars; Label: Octavia Records.

"I Wanna Sing Right: Rediscovering Lomax In The Evangeline Country," (Various Artists); Joshua Caffery & Joel Savoy, producers; label: Valcour Records.

53. Best Reggae Album: "Ziggy Marley," Ziggy Marley.
Label: Tuff Gong Worldwide

54. Best World Music Album: "Sing Me Home," Yo-Yo Ma & The Silk Road Ensemble.
Label: Masterworks

55. Best Children's Album: "Infinity Plus One," Secret Agent 23 Skidoo.
Label: Underground Records

56. Best Spoken Word Album (Includes Poetry, Audio Books & Storytelling): "In Such Good Company: Eleven Years Of Laughter, Mayhem, And Fun In The Sandbox,"
Carol Burnett.
Label: Penguin Random House Audio

57. Best Comedy Album: "Talking For Clapping," Patton Oswalt.
Label: ASpecialThing Records

58. Best Musical Theater Album: "The Color Purple," Danielle Brooks, Cynthia Erivo & Jennifer Hudson, principal soloists; Stephen Bray, Van Dean, Frank Filipetti, Roy Furman, Joan Raffe, Scott Sanders & Jhett Tolentino, producers (Stephen Bray, Brenda Russell & Allee Willis, composers/lyricists) (New Broadway Cast).
Label: Broadway Records

59. Best Compilation Soundtrack For Visual Media: "Miles Ahead," (Miles Davis & Various Artists).
Steve Berkowitz, Don Cheadle & Robert Glasper, compilation producers
Label: Columbia/Legacy

60. Best Score Soundtrack For Visual Media: "Star Wars: The Force Awakens," John Williams, composer.
Label: Walt Disney Records

61. Best Song Written For Visual Media: "Can't Stop The Feeling!" Max Martin, Shellback & Justin Timberlake, songwriters (Justin Timberlake, Anna Kendrick, Gwen Stefani, James Corden, Zooey Deschanel, Walt Dohrn, Ron Funches, Caroline Hjelt, Aino Jawo, Christopher Mintz-Plasse & Kunal Nayyar).
Track from: Trolls /
Label: Villa40/RCA Records; Publisher(s): Tennman Tunes admin. by Universal Music-Z Tunes LLC/ MXM Music admin. by Kobalt Songs Music Publishing, Inc./DWA Songs

62. Best Instrumental Composition: "Spoken At Midnight," Ted Nash, composer (Ted Nash Big Band).
Track from: Presidential Suite: Eight Variations On Freedom /
Label: Motema Music

63. Best Arrangement, Instrumental or A Cappella: "You And I," Jacob Collier, arranger (Jacob Collier).
Track from: In My Room /
Label: Membran

64. Best Arrangement, Instruments and Vocals: "Flintstones," Jacob Collier, arranger (Jacob Collier).
Track from: In My Room /
Label: Membran

65. Best Recording Package: "Blackstar," Jonathan Barnbrook, art director (David Bowie).
Label: ISO/Columbia Records

66. Best Boxed Or Special Limited Edition Package: "Edith Piaf 1915-2015," Gérard Lo Monaco, art director (Edith Piaf).
Label: Warner Music France

67. Best Album Notes: "Sissle And Blake Sing Shuffle Along," Ken Bloom & Richard Carlin, album notes writers (Eubie Blake & Noble Sissle).
Label: Harbinger Records/The Musical Theater Project

68. Best Historical Album: "The Cutting Edge 1965-1966: The Bootleg Series, Vol.12 (Collector's Edition)," Steve Berkowitz & Jeff Rosen, compilation producers; Mark Wilder, mastering engineer (Bob Dylan).
Label: Columbia/Legacy

69. Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical: "Blackstar," David Bowie, Tom Elmhirst, Kevin Killen & Tony Visconti, engineers; Joe LaPorta, mastering engineer (David Bowie).
Label: ISO/Columbia Records

70. Producer Of The Year, Non-Classical: Greg Kurstin.
• Cheap Thrills (Sia Featuring Sean Paul) (S)
• Hello (Adele) (S)
• Love You To Death (Tegan And Sara) (A)
• Million Years Ago (Adele) (T)
• Something In The Way You Move (Ellie Goulding) (T)
• Water Under The Bridge (Adele) (T)

71. Best Remixed Recording: "Tearing Me Up (RAC Remix)," André Allen Anjos, remixer (Bob Moses).
Label: Domino Recording

72. Best Surround Sound Album: "Dutilleux: Sur Le Même Accord; Les Citations; Mystère De L'instant & Timbres, Espace, Mouvement," Alexander Lipay & Dmitriy Lipay, surround mix engineers; Dmitriy Lipay, surround mastering engineer; Dmitriy Lipay, surround producer (Ludovic Morlot & Seattle Symphony).
Label: Seattle Symphony Media

73. Best Engineered Album, Classical: "Corigliano: The Ghosts Of Versailles," Mark Donahue, Fred Vogler & David L Williams, engineers (James Conlon, Guanqun Yu, Joshua Guerrero, Patricia Racette, Christopher Maltman, Lucy Schaufer, Lucas Meachem, LA Opera Chorus & Orchestra).
Label: Pentatone Music

74. Producer Of The Year, Classical: David Frost.
• Bach: The Cello Suites According To Anna Magdalena (Matt Haimovitz)
• Bates: Anthology Of Fantastic Zoology (Riccardo Muti & Chicago Symphony Orchestra)
• Beethoven: Piano Sonatas, Vol. 5 (Jonathan Biss)
• Brahms & Dvořák: Serenades (Boston Symphony Chamber Players)
• Fitelberg: Chamber Works (ARC Ensemble)
• Ispirare (Melia Watras)
• Overtures To Bach (Matt Haimovitz)
• Schoenberg: Kol Nidre; Shostakovich: Suite On Verses Of Michelangelo Buonarroti (Ildar Abdrazakov, Alberto Mizrahi, Riccardo Muti, Duain Wolfe, Chicago Symphony Orchestra & Chorus) • Shadow Of Sirius (Jerry F. Junkin & The University Of Texas Wind Ensemble)

75. Best Orchestral Performance: "Shostakovich: Under Stalin's Shadow - Symphonies Nos. 5, 8 & 9," Andris Nelsons, conductor (Boston Symphony Orchestra).
Label: Deutsche Grammophon

76. Best Opera Recording: "Corigliano: The Ghosts Of Versailles," James Conlon, conductor; Joshua Guerrero, Christopher Maltman, Lucas Meachem, Patricia Racette, Lucy Schaufer & Guanqun Yu; Blanton Alspaugh, producer (LA Opera Orchestra; LA Opera Chorus). Label: Pentatone Music

77. Best Choral Performance: "Penderecki Conducts Penderecki, Volume 1," Krzysztof Penderecki, conductor; Henryk Wojnarowski, choir director (Nikolay Didenko, Agnieszka Rehlis & Johanna Rusanen; Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra; Warsaw Philharmonic Choir).
Label: Warner Classics

78. Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance: Steve Reich.
Third Coast Percussion
Label: Cedille Records

79. Best Classical Instrumental Solo: "Daugherty: Tales Of Hemingway," Zuill Bailey; Giancarlo Guerrero, conductor (Nashville Symphony).
Track from: Daugherty: Tales Of Hemingway; American Gothic; Once Upon A Castle /
Label: Naxos

80. Best Classical Solo Vocal Album: it's a Tie. The co-winners are:
"Schumann & Berg," Dorothea Röschmann; Mitsuko Uchida, accompanist; Label: Decca.
and
"Shakespeare Songs," Ian Bostridge; Antonio Pappano, accompanist (Michael Collins, Elizabeth Kenny, Lawrence Power & Adam Walker); Label: Warner Classics.

81. Best Classical Compendium: "Daugherty: Tales Of Hemingway; American Gothic; Once Upon A Castle," Giancarlo Guerrero, conductor; Tim Handley, producer.
Label: Naxos

82. Best Contemporary Classical Composition: "Daugherty: Tales Of Hemingway," Michael Daugherty, composer (Zuill Bailey, Giancarlo Guerrero & Nashville Symphony).
Track from: Daugherty: Tales Of Hemingway; American Gothic; Once Upon A Castle /
Label: Naxos

83. Best Music Video: "Formation," Beyoncé.
Melina Matsoukas, video director; Candice Dragonas, Juliette Larthe, Nathan Scherrer & Inga Veronique, video producers
Label: Parkwood Entertainment/Columbia Records
___

84. Best Music Film: "The Beatles: Eight Days A Week The Touring Years," (The Beatles).
Ron Howard, video director; Brian Grazer, Ron Howard, Scott Pascucci & Nigel Sinclair, video producers
Label: Apple Corps Ltd./UMe

Other nominees:

"I'll Sleep When I'm Dead," Steve Aoki; Justin Krook, video director; Brent Almond, Matt Colon, David Gelb, Ryan Kavanaugh, Michael Theanne, Happy Walters & Matthew Weaver, video producers; Label: Netflix.

"Lemonade," Beyoncé; Beyoncé Knowles Carter & Kahlil Joseph, video directors; Ed Burke, Steve Pamon, Todd Tourso, Dora Melissa Vargas, Erinn Williams & Beyoncé Knowles Carter, video producers; Label: Parkwood Entertainment/Columbia Records.

"The Music Of Strangers," Yo-Yo Ma & The Silk Road Ensemble; Morgan Neville, video director; Caitrin Rogers, video producer; Label: Tremolo Productions.

"American Saturday Night: Live From The Grand Ole Opry," (Various Artists); George J. Flanigen IV, video director; Steve Buchanan, John Burke & Lindsey Clark, Robert Deaton, Pete Fisher & George J. Flanigen IV, video producers; Label: Grand Ole Opry, LLC. ___

Best of luck to all our musician readers as you contemplate your upcoming recording projects. Why not think about aiming for a Grammy in one of these categories?


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# 8 news feature...


TV: WHAT ARTS SHOWS WILL RETURN, AND THE FULL LIST OF CANCELLED SHOWS


(This is part four in this edition covering the presence of music on TV, and what else is obscurely present or fleetingly on TV. All three parts are here as consecutive news features.)
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There's precious little music performance programming on television. Most of it gets trotted-out only at mainstream PBS "pledge drive" time, because it's a proven cash cow to get the phones ringing. Though, as we've noted many times when that happens -- because it always happens -- you can donate to "keep programs like that on the air," but you don't see any more "programs like that" until the next pledge drive.

Fortunately, there are regularly-scheduled weekend shows focused on Folk-Americana (see the # 5 news feature), plus Turner Classic Movies ("TCM" in most listings) has a goodly dose of Hollywood musicals, many of them the screen versions of Broadway hits.

Otherwise? The corporate mainstream networks air all those derivatives of performance competition shows. You know the ones, with one nasty judge and other judges who get their own egos caught-up with particular contestants (that's the basis of the formula).

Beyond that, there are precious few music and arts shows on L.A. radio and national TV, and some of them are kids shows. A few free-form and/or arguably "artsy" TV shows have been RENEWED for next season, and we list them below.

We follow that with a comprehensive list of all the shows (of whatever genre) that have been CANCELLED. No, it isn't true that we list everything that's been cancelled because we wish most of them good riddance. It isn't true... but it could be...
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RENEWED ON TV / RETURNING NEXT SEASON

The following shows -- nominally music / arts / performance / variety -- will be back...

✔ '@ midnight with Chris Hardwick' (Comedy Central): Renewed for season 4

✔ 'Elena of Avalor' (Disney): Renewed for season 3

✔ 'Full Frontal with Samantha Bee' (TBS): Renewed for season 2

✔ 'Masters of Illusion' (The CW): Renewed for season 4

✔ 'Mozart in the Jungle' (Amazon): Renewed for season 4

✔ 'The Simpsons' (Fox): Renewed through season 30

✔ 'So You Think You Can Dance' (Fox): Renewed for season 14

✔ 'This Is Not Happening' (Comedy Central): Renewed for season 4

✔ 'Z Nation' (Syfy): Renewed for season 4
_______

RENEWED ON THE NETWORKS

It's easy to identify those shows. They're all the comic book superhero shows. Seriously.

Which reminds us of the observation by astrophysicist Charles Liu, when he said, "The original 'Star Trek' was cancelled because it was beaten-out by 'Batman' and 'The Green Hornet.' The cultural longevity and significance of a TV show has nothing to do with its commerciality." -- to host Neil de Grasse Tyson on "Star Talk," Feb. 2017.

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THE JUST-CANCELLED TV SHOWS, ALL GENRES...

'Adventure Time' (Cartoon Network): Ending after season 9

'American Gothic' (CBS): Canceled after one season

'Any Given Wednesday with Bill Simmons' (HBO): Canceled after four months

'Aquarius' (NBC): Canceled after two seasons

'Bloodline' (Netflix): Ending after season 3

'Blunt Talk' (Starz): Canceled after two seasons

'BrainDead' (CBS): Canceled after one season

'Celebrity Name Game' (Syndicated): Canceled after three seasons

'Conviction' (ABC): Most likely not returning after 13 episodes

'Dead of Summer' (Freeform): Canceled after one season

'Devious Maids' (Lifetime): Canceled after 4 seasons

'Duck Dynasty' (A&E): Ending after 11 seasons

'Feed the Beast' (AMC): Canceled after one season

'Flip or Flop' (HGTV): Ending in 2017

'Girl Meets World' (Disney Channel): Canceled after three seasons

'Good Girls Revolt' (Amazon): Canceled after one season

'Grimm' (NBC): Ending after season 6

'Guilt' (Freeform): Canceled after one season

'Halt and Catch Fire' (AMC): Ending after season 4

'I Am Cait' (E!): Canceled after two seasons

'The Insider' (Syndicated): Canceled after 13 seasons

'The Jim Gaffigan Show' (TV Land): Ending after season 2

'Longmire' (Netflix): Ending after season 6

'Marco Polo' (Netflix): Canceled after two seasons

'Masters of Sex' (Showtime): Canceled after four seasons

'The Meltdown with Jonah and Kumail' (Comedy Central): Ending after season 3

'Mistresses' (ABC): Canceled after 4 seasons

'Murder in the First' (TNT): Canceled after 3 seasons

'The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore' (Comedy Central): Canceled after a year and a half

'Not Safe With Nikki Glaser' (Comedy Central): Canceled after one season

'Portlandia' (IFC): is ending after season 8

'Pretty Little Liars' (Freeform): Ending after its seventh season

'Regular Show' (Cartoon Network): Ending after season 8

'Reign' (The CW): Ending after season 4

'Roadies' (Showtime): Canceled after one season

'Salem' (WGN America): Ending after season 3

'The Strain' (FX): Ending after season 4

** 'Strike Back' (Cinemax): Previously canceled, now revived for a fifth season

'Workaholics' (Comedy Central): Ending after season 7
_______

Surely, someone is saying, "Yet another proof it was a year of change, and the Democrats probably won't read this list, either, to learn anything about why things fail."

Ahem, well, yes.

We note there is still no replacement for A&E's "Breakfast with the Arts," long-gone and still able to evoke delightful memories. (Inexcusable that it hasn't been picked-up or reinvented SOMEWHERE.) And is it just us, or is "CBS Sunday Morning" running lean on those trademark arts features since Charles Osgood retired? Shouldn't they drop the closing "Moment of Nature" film, since what was once a delightful full minute with Charles Kuralt is now a pathetic three-to-eight seconds?

We ask those questions because we are, and always will be, fans of a real, actual SHOW. A "really big show," packed with talent, where every song or every sketch isn't the same as the last one. We are advocates for a real show, with, as that lost genre was dubbed, variety. It just doesn't cut it to watch two hours of YouTube with your finger on the button so you can "bypass commercial in 3, 2, 1."

BUT THOSE AREN'T THE NUMBERS THEY'RE WATCHING...

In the 2016 election cycle, 1,144 minutes of free coverage was given to Donald Trump by ABC, NBC, and CBS. No other candidate's coverage came close. Next closest on the all-time list is Barack Obama who got something over 700 minutes in 2008.

Note those totals do NOT include coverage on cable news channels. These are only what the last two winning candidates got from the three major broadcast networks.

The most illuminating reason why things are the way they are:

"Donald Trump may not be good for America, but he's damned good for CBS. The ratings are through the roof." -- Les Moonves, CBS network chair, one year ago, when asked about the unprecedented live "phoners" being given to candidate Trump.

To which we add:

"The medium [aka, the media] is the message." -- Marshall McLuhan, media critic, speaking in the 1970s on how the masses are influenced.


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# 9 news feature...


AT THE OSCARS: WHEN PROPAGANDA SUCCEEDS


It goes on and on and on. Sunday night, the Oscar for best documentary film went to the movie that glorifies the "White Helmets," aka the "Syrian Civil Defense."

They are darlings of the Western media. They are a creation of US and EU government funding, to the tune of millions, and their "legitimacy" has come from the "Syrian Observatory for Human Rights," which is ONE GUY sitting comfortably in London.

The Oscars broadcast would have you believe the "White Helmets" are the combination of the Lone Ranger, Zorro, and the comic book X-Men. That, despite ample evidence, including plenty of video, that:

a) they are firmly aligned with certain terrorist groups.

b) they have been on hand for terrorist beheadings.

c) they have waved guns and cheered when terrorists commit brutal acts.

d) they do NOT dig victims out of rubble except when they can film a specific incident.

e) they only seem to operate in certain areas controlled by certain Western-aligned "rebels."

f) they were caught, on camera, rehearsing a fake "rescue" of a "victim," and they later claimed it was a "playing mannekin contest."

g) Syrians have come forward to independent journalists, accusing "White Helmets" of everything from refusing aid under dire circumstances to, in one case, murdering their child with a syringe filled with air.
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Here are four sources we'll offer you about this, so be sure you scroll sufficiently. Included are a look at what journalists Eva Bartlett, Lizzie Phelan and Vanessa Beeley (none of them with corporate mainstream media) have said about these "heroic" White Helmets.
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✔ http://thefreethoughtproject.com/syrian-war-propaganda-film-wins-an-oscar-the-white-helmets-scam-academy-awards-edition/

And The Oscar Goes To -- Al-Qaeda? Syrian War Propaganda ...
The fact that the White Helmets won an Oscar reveals exactly how powerfully contrived and controlled information disseminated to the public can be.
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✔ http://21stcenturywire.com/2016/10/07/crosstalk-white-helmets-really-with-vanessa-beeley-eva-bartlett-patrick-henningsen/

CrossTalk: ‘White Helmets, Really?’ with Vanessa ...
We're covering news you won't necessarily find in the mainstream, and things which regularly confuse career politicians, FOX and CNN watchers...
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✔ Here's Phelan...

http://radiobiafra.co/index.php/world-news/item/197779-film-about-syrian-white-helmets-wins-oscar-for-best-short-documentary

Film about Syrian White Helmets wins Oscar for best short documentary
"The White Helmets," a 40-minute documentary, marks first Oscar win for director Orlando von Einsiedel. The film revolves around the “perilous work of...
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✔ And here's Beeley...

https://www.rt.com/op-edge/378749-white-helmets-rebrand-terror-beeley/

'White Helmets helping rebrand terror groups to create Syrian no-fly zones' - Vanessa Beeley.
Increased terrorist attacks during the peace talks put pressure on the US to divide the militant factions inside Syria to determine who are terrorists and who are not. A terrorist rebranding process comes into play at that point, says researcher Vanessa Beeley.
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There is an important point -- after the suffering of the people of Syria, and the death, maiming, malnutrition, painful wounds that often go untreated, deprivation of education for an entire generation throughout a vast region, and the flood of more desperate civilian refugees than any time since the end of World War II.

THE IMPORTANT POINT FOR ALL OF US, is this: Academy voters, selecting films for honors, are just as susceptible to the impressions created by mainstream media as are any of the rest of us. We, all of us, are never quite sure when we are being "played" by corporate mainstream media, as it performs its assigned tasks advancing "the narrative" as wholly-owned subsidiaries of megagiant enterprises, often with divisions that profit from war. The corporate mainstream news media should never be assumed to be free of disseminating "fake news," any more than any internet-based independent source. And just as important, propaganda can come from anyone with a stake in shaping public opinion. Whether it's scapegoating or manipulation by the tactics of fear, or the elevation of false heroes. It's worth your while to take a look at the era of McCarthyism in American history. Caveat emptor.


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Stay tuneful! See you next time!

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♪ The ACOUSTIC AMERICANA MUSIC GUIDE endeavors to bring you NEWS – and views of interest to artists everywhere – more specifically to musicians and the creative community and music makers and fans of acoustic and Folk-Americana music. That includes both traditional and innovative forms. From the deepest roots to today’s acoustic renaissance, that’s our beat. We provide a wealth of resources, including a HUGE catalog of acoustic-friendly venues (now undergoing a major update), and inside info on FESTIVALS and select performances in Southern California in venues from the monumentally large to the intimately small and cozy. We cover workshops, conferences, and other events for artists and folks in the music industry, and all kinds o’ things in the world of acoustic and Americana and accessible classical music. From washtub bass to musical spoons to oboe to viola to banjo to squeezebox, from Djangostyle to new-fangled-old-time string band music, from sweet Cajun fiddle to bluegrass and pre-bluegrass Appalachian mountain music to all the swamp water roots of the blues and the bright lights of where the music is headed now.
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